(972) 530-3335 311 E. Buckingham Rd. Garland, TX 75040
NIRA Import Drags - June 28th, 1998
Pictures coming soon!
Preparation
Motivated from the previous Import Drag racing event we attended last April, we were excited about improving our times and possibly coming home with another Fastest Import title. This event was ALL import so we didn't worry about any Corvettes spoiling our chances of winning the Quick 8, just the other fast imports in the area. Additional motivation was also created when we began reading the posted ID Drag War results which listed the 11.4 second Integra as the fastest import in the Quick 8 instead of our own '80 model RX-7 which posted an 11.3 in the Quick 8. We can only assume the excitement of an 11 second, front wheel drive Honda caused the event organizes to overlook our faster, yet not as trendy, 1st generation RX-7.
For this event, we decided to campaign four of our cars, twice as many as last time. All the cars needed quite a bit of work to be ready for the event. The fastest car in our group, Andy's 1980 model turbocharged 13B RX-7 was setup quite differently since the last event. Andy had be struggling to break past the 11.3 second mark so an upgraded intake manifold, larger turbo, different fuel system, and a freshened engine were all added a few weeks before the event. With the new systems in place, Andy finalized the Haltech tuning with the help of Del Barnett from Haltech on the Friday evening before the event.
One of the new cars in the lineup was Ethan Fisher's 87 model Turbo II. After we replaced his old, 130,000+ mile motor with a heavy-duty, rebuilt and ported motor, many bolt on pieces were installed to help his stock turbo, stock intercooler car run competitively. In the final week leading up to the event, we made a few minor modifications and then tested the car on Friday at the drag strip. With the car dialed in to run 14.7psi on race gas, we called it done and waited for Sunday.
Eric Michel also came into town from California on Friday evening to run his car which had been shipped to us for a motor rebuild. With all the break-in miles performed properly on the car, Eric took to tuning in the RP Prototype fuel system which was a duplicate of the system Ari had run at the last event. During a tuning session late Friday night, Eric experienced some unexplained overboost conditions from his electronic boost controller and some possible damage was done to the motor. The decision was made on Saturday morning to not risk any further damage to the motor and Eric's car was parked. Not wanting to waste the weekend, we decided to take one of the shop owned '93 cars and prepare it for the event. Luckily, that car had already been modified slightly but had been sitting for over a year. Eric and Ari stayed up all Saturday night swapping various parts from Eric's car, installing a new clutch, and getting it ready for the event.
Ari's car, after some surprisingly quick 11.7 runs at the last event, had also been sitting for the last few months. A damaged rear end had put Ari's car on the "disabled" list and without time to work on our own cars, it had sat until Friday when it received a usable rear end. Ari, after pulling an all-nighter to finalize some work on a customer's car, handling normal job functions Saturday morning and afternoon and then once again staying up all night to prepare the car Eric would race, had little time available to properly tune in his own car. After some 3am tuning runs were made, it was painfully clear that his car wasn't running as strong as it was at the last event but we were simply out of time.
Arrival and Testing
Unlike last time, we tried to come more prepared for the heat and brought more of the necessary tools. A canopy, generator, air compressor and tool, floor jack, and PLENTY of cool liquids were definitely on the list of "must bring" items. After being shown to our vendor space, we realized that this event wasn't quite as well organized as the last ID Drag Wars event. A brief explanation was made that we needed space to park cars around us, we were booted out into the larger vendor space area that Toyo and Nitto tires were occupying. Seeing that the Nitto/GReddy sponsored RX-7 of A&L Racing was there, we decided it would be nice to park our booth near his to show a very strong rotary following. Unfortunately, some HKS reps in a rental car had other plans and kicked us out of the area claiming they were going to setup a tent in that area. (Needless to say, no tent was ever put up.) So, we moved once again to our final position further out in the parking lot.
Also joining us to run in the event were two Houston RX-7 club members Brad Barber in his Silver Touring '93 RX-7 and Kyle Krutilek in his Red '94 R2 RX-7. We were glad they made it up to the event to help dominate our class and have some fun with the cars.
While doing our final tuning on the track, it because obvious that the cars were not running as fast as they had last time. Andy's car was running low 12's, a full second off his previous mark, Ari's car was running 13's, and Eric's car was having fits with the various junction hoses, vacuum lines, and any other hose that could possibly blow off halfway through the run. Ethan's Turbo II was performing well though, finally getting out of the 14's with a 13.7 second pass.
The Race - Quick 8 (Power 6)
After only one or two runs for each of our cars, the announcement was made regarding the Quick 8 competition. In our class, 5 RX-7s qualified to run in the Quick 8, our two friends from Houston (Kyle K. and Brad B.) as well as Ari, Andy, and Eric. Unique to the NIRA event, the Quick 8 was split into different categories depending on engine and "power adders". All turbocharged rotaries fell into the Power 6 category to race against other 6-cylinder cars with NOS, Turbo, or Superchargers. In the first round, Ari and Kyle ran heads up with Kyle walking away with the victory in a mid-12 second run. Eric Michel was also eliminated in the first round, yet again suffering from boost hose problems. Brad Barber, wisely due to the extreme heat, elected not to race. In the second round it was once again RX-7 vs RX-7 as Kyle once again advanced to the next round with a 12.5 sec run, beating Andy's 12.2 second run because of a better reaction time. Unfortunately Kyle final round opponent was Lance's 10 second 3rd generation Supra which took an easy win but ended up needed a tow home after the run. Kyle, luckily, was able to pack it up and drive it back to Houston without any problems.
The Race - Brackets
The last event of the day was the traditional bracket racing. Unfortunately our friends from Houston decided to begin their journey home so we set out to continue the success and keep some RX-7s in as long as possible. As luck would have it, the cars slowly started to perform better which caused some trouble when trying to perform well in brackets. Bracket racing, unlike the Quick 8, is based on how close you can run to your "dialed in" time which you predict. If you run faster than it, you break out and are eliminated. The goal is to run as close to your dialed in time and keeping a good reaction time.
Ari and Eric's cars were entered into the 12.00 to 13.99 second bracket and Ethan's car was run in the 14.00 to 15.49 second bracket. Luckily everyone made it through the first round but during the second round Ari's car found some of it's power again and broke out by running an 12.7 after he'd left off and began braking before the end of the 1/4 mile. Ethan also had the same bad luck by breaking out of his 14.0 dial in with a 13.68 run. As irony would have it though, the car that had been blowing hoses all day ended up being the most consistent as Eric Michel, with a 12.5 dial in, drove the car into the semi-finals. Unfortunately the dreaded hose problem returned on the semi-final run and our day was finished.
Overall the event was a success for RX-7s, even if our own cars didn't run as well as we had hoped for. Thanks to the Houston RX-7 club, our friends and customers from around the state, Oklahoma, California, and elsewhere. Keep the sunscreen, Aloe, and plenty of water close, this next one is going to be even HOTTER!
NEXT EVENT:
ID Drag Wars II on August 16 in Ennis, Texas
Car Specs - Ari's 1993 RX-7
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Car Specs - Eric's Loaner 1993 RX-7
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Pictures coming soon! |
| Pictures coming soon! |
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